Vehicle systems and methods for autonomous operation using driver attention

ABSTRACT

Vehicles and related systems and methods are provided for controlling a vehicle in an autonomous operating mode. One method involves a controller associated with a vehicle identifying a visual attention state associated with a driver of the vehicle based at least in part on output of an imaging device onboard the vehicle, determining, based at least in part on the visual attention state, a driver lane preference corresponding to an adjacent lane in a visual attention direction relative to a current lane of travel for the vehicle, adjusting a priority associated with the adjacent lane corresponding to the driver lane preference and autonomously operating one or more actuators onboard the vehicle to initiate maneuvering the vehicle from the current lane in a manner that is influenced by the adjusted priority associated with the adjacent lane.

INTRODUCTION

The technical field generally relates to vehicle systems and moreparticularly relates to autonomous operation of a vehicle using thevisual attention of a driver to increase confidence in executing amaneuver.

An autonomous vehicle is a vehicle that is capable of sensing itsenvironment and navigating with little or no user input. An autonomousvehicle senses its environment using sensing devices such as radar,lidar, image sensors, and the like. The autonomous vehicle systemfurther uses information from global positioning systems (GPS)technology, navigation systems, vehicle-to-vehicle communication,vehicle-to-infrastructure technology, and/or drive-by-wire systems tonavigate the vehicle.

Vehicle automation has been categorized into numerical levels rangingfrom Zero, corresponding to no automation with full human control, toFive, corresponding to full automation with no human control. Variousautomated driver-assistance systems, such as cruise control, adaptivecruise control, and parking assistance systems correspond to lowerautomation levels, while true “driverless” vehicles correspond to higherautomation levels.

Due to the sheer number of different variables in a real-worldenvironment, an autonomous vehicle control system could encounter anenvironment or scenario where assistance may be desired. For example,traffic, road conditions and other obstacles or scenarios can beencountered that impair autonomous operation. In lower-level automationsystems (e.g., Level Three or below), such scenarios may require adriver or other vehicle occupant manually control or operate the vehiclein some instances, which introduces a burden on a rider that is somewhatcontrary to the intent of the automation. Accordingly, it is desirableto provide vehicle control systems and methods that are capable ofautonomously resolving scenarios and arriving at a satisfactory solutionfor how to autonomously operate the vehicle with reduced burden on thedriver to improve the user experience. Other desirable features andcharacteristics of the present invention will become apparent from thesubsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technicalfield and background.

SUMMARY

Apparatus for a vehicle and related methods for controlling the vehiclein an autonomous operating mode are provided. One method of controllinga vehicle in an autonomous operating mode involves a controllerassociated with the vehicle identifying a visual attention stateassociated with a driver of the vehicle based at least in part on outputof an imaging device onboard the vehicle, determining, based at least inpart on the visual attention state, a driver lane preferencecorresponding to an adjacent lane in a visual attention directionrelative to a current lane of travel for the vehicle, the visualattention direction corresponding to the visual attention state,adjusting a priority associated with the adjacent lane corresponding tothe driver lane preference, and autonomously operating one or moreactuators onboard the vehicle to initiate maneuvering the vehicle fromthe current lane in a manner that is influenced by the adjusted priorityassociated with the adjacent lane.

In one aspect, identifying the visual attention state involvesidentifying visual attention of the driver directed to a regionassociated with a side of the current lane of travel in the visualattention direction, determining the driver lane preference involvesidentifying the adjacent lane on the side of the current lane of travelin the visual attention direction as a preferred lane, adjusting thepriority involves increasing the priority associated with the adjacentlane, resulting in an increased priority associated with the adjacentlane, and autonomously operating the one or more actuators involvesautonomously operating the one or more actuators to initiate a lanechange from the current lane to the adjacent lane in accordance with theincreased priority. In a further aspect, identifying the visualattention of the driver directed to the region associated with the sideof the current lane of travel involves identifying the visual attentionof the driver is directed to a mirror on the side of the vehicle in thevisual attention direction. In another aspect, autonomously operatingthe one or more actuators to initiate the lane change from the currentlane to the adjacent lane in accordance with the increased priorityinvolves providing an indication to a motion planning module to generatea motion plan to execute a pending lane change in the visual attentiondirection.

In one aspect, adjusting the priority involves decreasing the priorityassociated with the adjacent lane when the visual attention directioncorresponds to a first side of the current lane opposite a second sideof the current lane corresponding to the adjacent lane, resulting in adecreased priority associated with the adjacent lane and autonomouslyoperating the one or more actuators involves autonomously operating theone or more actuators to delay a lane change from the current lane tothe adjacent lane in accordance with the decreased priority. In anotheraspect, adjusting the priority involves decreasing the priorityassociated with the adjacent lane when the visual attention directioncorresponds to a first side of the current lane opposite a second sideof the current lane corresponding to the adjacent lane, resulting in adecreased priority associated with the adjacent lane and autonomouslyoperating the one or more actuators involves autonomously operating theone or more actuators to initiate a lane change from the current lane toa second adjacent lane on the first side of the current lane inaccordance with the decreased priority associated with the adjacentlane. In another aspect, autonomously operating the one or moreactuators involves autonomously operating the one or more actuators tocancel or delay a pending lane change. In another aspect, determiningthe visual attention state involves determining at least one of afrequency and a duration of visual attention in the visual attentiondirection over a preceding window of time, determining the driver lanepreference involves determining the adjacent lane is a preferred lanewhen the at least one of the at least one of the frequency and theduration of visual attention in the visual attention direction over thepreceding window of time is greater than a threshold, and adjusting thepriority involves increasing the priority associated with the adjacentlane in response to determining the adjacent lane is the preferred lane,resulting in an increased priority associated with the adjacent lane.

In one or more implementations, a vehicle is provided that includes animaging device, one or more actuators onboard the vehicle, and acontroller coupled to the imaging device and the one or more actuators.The controller, by a processor, identifies a visual attention stateassociated with a driver of the vehicle based at least in part on outputof the imaging device, determines a driver lane preference correspondingto an adjacent lane in a visual attention direction relative to acurrent lane of travel for the vehicle corresponding to the visualattention state, adjusts a priority associated with the adjacent lanecorresponding to the driver lane preference, and autonomously operatesthe one or more actuators to initiate maneuvering the vehicle from thecurrent lane in a manner that is influenced by the adjusted priorityassociated with the adjacent lane. In one aspect, the imaging deviceincludes a camera oriented to capture imagery of the driver when thedriver is operating the vehicle. In another aspect, the visual attentionstate is visual attention of the driver directed to a region associatedwith a side of the current lane of travel in the visual attentiondirection and the driver lane preference is the adjacent lane on theside of the current lane of travel in the visual attention direction. Inone or more implementations, the region is a mirror on the side of thevehicle in the visual attention direction.

Also provided is a non-transitory computer-readable medium having storedthereon executable instructions in one or more implementations. Theinstructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processor toidentify a visual attention state associated with a driver of a vehiclebased at least in part on output of an imaging device onboard thevehicle, determine, based at least in part on the visual attentionstate, a driver lane preference corresponding to an adjacent lane in avisual attention direction relative to a current lane of travel for thevehicle corresponding to the visual attention state, adjust a priorityassociated with the adjacent lane corresponding to the driver lanepreference, and autonomously operate one or more actuators onboard thevehicle to initiate maneuvering the vehicle from the current lane in amanner that is influenced by the adjusted priority associated with theadjacent lane.

In one aspect, identifying the visual attention state involvesidentifying visual attention of the driver directed to a regionassociated with a side of the current lane of travel in the visualattention direction, determining the driver lane preference involvesidentifying the adjacent lane on the side of the current lane of travelin the visual attention direction as a preferred lane, adjusting thepriority involves increasing the priority associated with the adjacentlane, and autonomously operating the one or more actuators involvesautonomously operating the one or more actuators to initiate a lanechange from the current lane to the adjacent lane in accordance with theincreased priority. In one or more implementations, the region is amirror on the side of the vehicle in the visual attention direction.

In another aspect, autonomously operating the one or more actuators toinitiate a lane change from the current lane to the adjacent lane inaccordance with the adjusted priority involves providing an indicationto a motion planning module to generate a motion plan to execute apending lane change in the visual attention direction. In yet anotheraspect, adjusting the priority involves decreasing the priorityassociated with the adjacent lane when the visual attention directioncorresponds to a first side of the current lane opposite a second sideof the current lane corresponding to the adjacent lane and autonomouslyoperating the one or more actuators involves autonomously operating theone or more actuators to delay a lane change from the current lane tothe adjacent lane in accordance with the decreased priority. In anotheraspect, adjusting the priority involves decreasing the priorityassociated with the adjacent lane when the visual attention directioncorresponds to a first side of the current lane opposite a second sideof the current lane corresponding to the adjacent lane and autonomouslyoperating the one or more actuators involves autonomously operating theone or more actuators to initiate a lane change from the current lane toa second adjacent lane on the first side of the current lane inaccordance with the decreased priority associated with the adjacentlane. In another aspect, autonomously operating the one or moreactuators involves autonomously operating the one or more actuators tocancel or delay a pending lane change. In yet another aspect,determining the visual attention state involves determining at least oneof a frequency and a duration of visual attention in the visualattention direction over a preceding window of time, determining thedriver lane preference involves determining the adjacent lane is apreferred lane when the at least one of the at least one of thefrequency and the duration of visual attention in the visual attentiondirection over the preceding window of time is greater than a threshold,and adjusting the priority involves increasing the priority associatedwith the adjacent lane in response to determining the adjacent lane isthe preferred lane, resulting in an increased priority associated withthe adjacent lane.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The exemplary aspects will hereinafter be described in conjunction withthe following drawing figures, wherein like numerals denote likeelements, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an autonomous vehicle controlsystem for a vehicle in accordance with various implementations;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an automated driving system (ADS) suitablefor implementation by the autonomous vehicle control system of thevehicle of FIG. 1 in accordance with various implementations;

FIG. 3 depicts a block diagram of an autonomous vehicle control systemthat includes a driver monitoring system suitable for use with the ADSof FIG. 2 in the autonomous vehicle control system of FIG. 1 accordingto one or more aspects described herein;

FIG. 4 depicts a flow diagram of a visual lane prioritization processsuitable for implementation by the ADS of FIG. 2 in the autonomousvehicle control system of FIG. 1 according to one or more aspectsdescribed herein; and

FIGS. 5-6 depict exemplary scenarios for example implementations of thevisual lane prioritization process of FIG. 4 according to one or moreaspects described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description is merely exemplary in nature and isnot intended to limit the application and uses. Furthermore, there is nointention to be bound by any expressed or implied theory presented inthe preceding introduction, summary, or the following detaileddescription. As used herein, the term module refers to any hardware,software, firmware, electronic control component, processing logic,and/or processor device, individually or in any combination, includingwithout limitation: application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), anelectronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and memorythat executes one or more software or firmware programs, a combinationallogic circuit, and/or other suitable components that provide thedescribed functionality.

Referring now to FIG. 1 , in accordance with one or moreimplementations, an autonomous vehicle control system 100 determines aplan for autonomously operating a vehicle 10 along a route in a mannerthat accounts for objects or obstacles detected by onboard sensors 28,40, as described in greater detail below. In this regard, a controlmodule onboard the vehicle 10 calibrates different types of onboardsensors 28, 40 with respect to one another and/or the vehicle 10,thereby allowing data from those different types of onboard sensors 28,40 to be spatially associated or otherwise with one another based on thecalibration for purposes of object detection, object classification, andthe resulting autonomous operation of the vehicle 10.

As depicted in FIG. 1 , the vehicle 10 generally includes a chassis, abody 14, and front and rear wheels 16, 18 rotationally coupled to thechassis near a respective corner of the body 14. The body 14 is arrangedon the chassis and substantially encloses components of the vehicle 10,and the body 14 and the chassis may jointly form a frame.

In exemplary implementations, the vehicle 10 is an autonomous vehicle oris otherwise configured to support one or more autonomous operatingmodes, and the control system 100 is incorporated into the vehicle 10(hereinafter referred to as the vehicle 10). The vehicle 10 is depictedin the illustrated implementation as a passenger car, but it should beappreciated that any other vehicle including motorcycles, trucks, sportutility vehicles (SUVs), recreational vehicles (RVs), marine vessels,aircraft, etc., can also be used. In an exemplary implementation, thevehicle 10 is a so-called Level Two automation system. A Level Twosystem indicates “partial driving automation,” referring to the drivingmode-specific performance by an automated driving system to controlsteering, acceleration and braking in specific scenarios while a driverremains alert and actively supervises the automated driving system atall times and is capable of providing driver support to control primarydriving tasks.

As shown, the vehicle 10 generally includes a propulsion system 20, atransmission system 22, a steering system 24, a brake system 26, asensor system 28, an actuator system 30, at least one data storagedevice 32, at least one controller 34, and a communication system 36.The propulsion system 20 may, in various implementations, include aninternal combustion engine, an electric machine such as a tractionmotor, and/or a fuel cell propulsion system. The transmission system 22is configured to transmit power from the propulsion system 20 to thevehicle wheels 16, 18 according to selectable speed ratios. According tovarious implementations, the transmission system 22 may include astep-ratio automatic transmission, a continuously-variable transmission,or other appropriate transmission. The brake system 26 is configured toprovide braking torque to the vehicle wheels 16, 18. The brake system 26may, in various implementations, include friction brakes, brake by wire,a regenerative braking system such as an electric machine, and/or otherappropriate braking systems. The steering system 24 influences aposition of the of the vehicle wheels 16, 18. While depicted asincluding a steering wheel for illustrative purposes, in someimplementations contemplated within the scope of the present disclosure,the steering system 24 may not include a steering wheel.

The sensor system 28 includes one or more sensing devices 40 a-40 n thatsense observable conditions of the exterior environment and/or theinterior environment of the vehicle 10. The sensing devices 40 a-40 ncan include, but are not limited to, radars, lidars, global positioningsystems, optical cameras, thermal cameras, ultrasonic sensors, and/orother sensors. The actuator system 30 includes one or more actuatordevices 42 a-42 n that control one or more vehicle features such as, butnot limited to, the propulsion system 20, the transmission system 22,the steering system 24, and the brake system 26. In variousimplementations, the vehicle features can further include interiorand/or exterior vehicle features such as, but are not limited to, doors,a trunk, and cabin features such as air, music, lighting, etc. (notnumbered).

The data storage device 32 stores data for use in automaticallycontrolling the vehicle 10. In various implementations, the data storagedevice 32 stores defined maps of the navigable environment. In variousimplementations, the defined maps may be predefined by and obtained froma remote system. For example, the defined maps may be assembled by theremote system and communicated to the vehicle 10 (wirelessly and/or in awired manner) and stored in the data storage device 32. As can beappreciated, the data storage device 32 may be part of the controller34, separate from the controller 34, or part of the controller 34 andpart of a separate system.

The controller 34 includes at least one processor 44 and a computerreadable storage device or media 46. The processor 44 can be any custommade or commercially available processor, a central processing unit(CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), an auxiliary processor amongseveral processors associated with the controller 34, asemiconductor-based microprocessor (in the form of a microchip or chipset), a macroprocessor, any combination thereof, or generally any devicefor executing instructions. The computer readable storage device ormedia 46 may include volatile and nonvolatile storage in read-onlymemory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), and keep-alive memory (KAM),for example. KAM is a persistent or non-volatile memory that may be usedto store various operating variables while the processor 44 is powereddown. The computer-readable storage device or media 46 may beimplemented using any of a number of known memory devices such as PROMs(programmable read-only memory), EPROMs (electrically PROM), EEPROMs(electrically erasable PROM), flash memory, or any other electric,magnetic, optical, or combination memory devices capable of storingdata, some of which represent executable instructions, used by thecontroller 34 in controlling the vehicle 10.

The instructions may include one or more separate programs, each ofwhich comprises an ordered listing of executable instructions forimplementing logical functions. The instructions, when executed by theprocessor 44, receive and process signals from the sensor system 28,perform logic, calculations, methods and/or algorithms for automaticallycontrolling the components of the vehicle 10, and generate controlsignals to the actuator system 30 to automatically control thecomponents of the vehicle 10 based on the logic, calculations, methods,and/or algorithms. Although only one controller 34 is shown in FIG. 1 ,implementations of the vehicle 10 can include any number of controllers34 that communicate over any suitable communication medium or acombination of communication mediums and that cooperate to process thesensor signals, perform logic, calculations, methods, and/or algorithms,and generate control signals to automatically control features of thevehicle 10.

In various implementations, one or more instructions of the controller34 are embodied in the control system 100 (e.g., in data storage element46) and, when executed by the processor 44, cause the processor 44 toobtain data captured or generated from imaging and ranging devices 40and utilize the captured environmental data to determine commands forautonomously operating the vehicle 10, as described in greater detailbelow. In one or more exemplary implementations, the data storageelement 46 maintains a lookup table of lateral planning information thatmay be utilized to determine corresponding lateral referencetrajectories for maneuvering laterally into an adjacent lane, with thelateral planning information and resulting reference lateral trajectorybeing utilized or otherwise referenced by the processor 44 to determinecommands for autonomously operating the vehicle 10 when the normalvehicle guidance or control scheme supported by the processor 44encounters a deadline or other temporal constraint for a time-sensitivelateral maneuver to avoid having to solve for a commanded vehicle pathwithin a limited period of time.

Still referring to FIG. 1 , in exemplary implementations, thecommunication system 36 is configured to wirelessly communicateinformation to and from other entities 48 over a communication network,such as but not limited to, other vehicles (“V2V” communication)infrastructure (“V2I” communication), remote systems, and/or personaldevices. In an exemplary implementation, the communication system 36 isa wireless communication system configured to communicate via a wirelesslocal area network (WLAN) using IEEE 802.11 standards or by usingcellular data communication. However, additional or alternatecommunication methods, such as a dedicated short-range communications(DSRC) channel, are also considered within the scope of the presentdisclosure. DSRC channels refer to one-way or two-way short-range tomedium-range wireless communication channels specifically designed forautomotive use and a corresponding set of protocols and standards.

The communication network utilized by the communication system 36 caninclude a wireless carrier system such as a cellular telephone systemthat includes a plurality of cell towers (not shown), one or more mobileswitching centers (MSCs) (not shown), as well as any other networkingcomponents required to connect the wireless carrier system with a landcommunications system, and the wireless carrier system can implement anysuitable communications technology, including for example, digitaltechnologies such as CDMA (e.g., CDMA2000), LTE (e.g., 4G LTE or 5GLTE), GSM/GPRS, or other current or emerging wireless technologies.Additionally, or alternatively, a second wireless carrier system in theform of a satellite communication system can be utilized to provideuni-directional or bi-directional communication using one or morecommunication satellites (not shown) and an uplink transmitting station(not shown), including, but not limited to satellite radio services,satellite telephony services and/or the like. Some implementations mayutilize a land communication system, such as a conventional land-basedtelecommunications network including a public switched telephone network(PSTN) used to provide hardwired telephony, packet-switched datacommunications, and the Internet infrastructure. One or more segments ofa land communication system can be implemented using a standard wirednetwork, a fiber or other optical network, a cable network, power lines,other wireless networks such as wireless local area networks (WLANs), ornetworks providing broadband wireless access (BWA), or any combinationthereof.

Referring now to FIG. 2 , in accordance with various implementations,controller 34 implements an autonomous driving system (ADS) 70. That is,suitable software and/or hardware components of controller 34 (e.g.,processor 44 and computer-readable storage device 46) are utilized toprovide an autonomous driving system 70 that is used in conjunction withvehicle 10, for example, to automatically control various actuators 30and thereby control vehicle acceleration, steering, and braking,respectively, without human intervention.

In various implementations, the instructions of the autonomous drivingsystem 70 may be organized by function or system. For example, as shownin FIG. 2 , the autonomous driving system 70 can include a sensor fusionsystem 74, a positioning system 76, a guidance system 78, and a vehiclecontrol system 80. As can be appreciated, in various implementations,the instructions may be organized into any number of systems (e.g.,combined, further partitioned, etc.) as the disclosure is not limited tothe present examples.

In various implementations, the sensor fusion system 74 synthesizes andprocesses sensor data and predicts the presence, location,classification, and/or path of objects and features of the environmentof the vehicle 10. In various implementations, the sensor fusion system74 can incorporate information from multiple sensors, including but notlimited to cameras, lidars, radars, and/or any number of other types ofsensors. In one or more exemplary implementations described herein, thesensor fusion system 74 correlates image data to lidar point cloud data,the vehicle reference frame, or some other reference coordinate frameusing calibrated conversion parameter values associated with the pairingof the respective camera and reference frame to relate lidar points topixel locations, assign depths to the image data, identify objects inone or more of the image data and the lidar data, or otherwisesynthesize associated image data and lidar data. In other words, thesensor output from the sensor fusion system 74 provided to the vehiclecontrol system 80 (e.g., indicia of detected objects and/or theirlocations relative to the vehicle 10) reflects or is otherwiseinfluenced by the calibrations and associations between camera images,lidar point cloud data, and the like.

The positioning system 76 processes sensor data along with other data todetermine a position (e.g., a local position relative to a map, an exactposition relative to lane of a road, vehicle heading, velocity, etc.) ofthe vehicle 10 relative to the environment. The guidance system 78processes sensor data along with other data to determine a path for thevehicle 10 to follow given the current sensor data and vehicle pose. Thevehicle control system 80 then generates control signals for controllingthe vehicle 10 according to the determined path. In variousimplementations, the controller 34 implements machine learningtechniques to assist the functionality of the controller 34, such asfeature detection/classification, obstruction mitigation, routetraversal, mapping, sensor integration, ground-truth determination, andthe like.

In one or more implementations, the guidance system 78 includes a motionplanning module that generates a motion plan for controlling the vehicleas it traverses along a route. The motion planning module includes alongitudinal solver module that generates a longitudinal motion planoutput for controlling the movement of the vehicle along the route inthe general direction of travel, for example, by causing the vehicle toaccelerate or decelerate at one or more locations in the future alongthe route to maintain a desired speed or velocity. The motion planningmodule also includes a lateral solver module that generates a lateralmotion plan output for controlling the lateral movement of the vehiclealong the route to alter the general direction of travel, for example,by steering the vehicle at one or more locations in the future along theroute (e.g., to maintain the vehicle centered within a lane, changelanes, etc.). The longitudinal and lateral plan outputs correspond tothe commanded (or planned) path output provided to the vehicle controlsystem 80 for controlling the vehicle actuators 30 to achieve movementof the vehicle 10 along the route that corresponds to the longitudinaland lateral plans.

During normal operation, the longitudinal solver module attempts tooptimize the vehicle speed (or velocity) in the direction of travel, thevehicle acceleration in the direction of travel, and the derivative ofthe vehicle acceleration in the direction of travel, alternativelyreferred to herein as the longitudinal jerk of the vehicle, and thelateral solver module attempts to optimize one or more of the steeringangle, the rate of change of the steering angle, and the acceleration orsecond derivative of the steering angle, alternatively referred toherein as the lateral jerk of the vehicle. In this regard, the steeringangle can be related to the curvature of the path or route, and any oneof the steering angle, the rate of change of the steering angle, and theacceleration or second derivative of the steering angle can be optimizedby the lateral solver module, either individually or in combination.

In an exemplary implementation, the longitudinal solver module receivesor otherwise obtains the current or instantaneous pose of the vehicle,which includes the current position or location of the vehicle, thecurrent orientation of the vehicle, the current speed or velocity of thevehicle, and the current acceleration of the vehicle. Using the currentposition or location of the vehicle, the longitudinal solver module alsoretrieves or otherwise obtains route information which includesinformation about the route the vehicle is traveling along given thecurrent pose and plus some additional buffer distance or time period(e.g., 12 seconds into the future), such as, for example, the currentand future road grade or pitch, the current and future road curvature,current and future lane information (e.g., lane types, boundaries, andother constraints or restrictions), as well as other constraints orrestrictions associated with the roadway (e.g., minimum and maximumspeed limits, height or weight restrictions, and the like). The routeinformation may be obtained from, for example, an onboard data storageelement 32, an online database, or other entity. In one or moreimplementations, the lateral route information may include the plannedlateral path command output by the lateral solver module, where thelongitudinal and lateral solver modules iteratively derive an optimaltravel plan along the route.

The longitudinal solver module also receives or otherwise obtains thecurrent obstacle data relevant to the route and current pose of thevehicle, which may include, for example, the location or position, size,orientation or heading, speed, acceleration, and other characteristicsof objects or obstacles in a vicinity of the vehicle or the futureroute. The longitudinal solver module also receives or otherwise obtainslongitudinal vehicle constraint data which characterizes or otherwisedefines the kinematic or physical capabilities of the vehicle forlongitudinal movement, such as, for example, the maximum accelerationand the maximum longitudinal jerk, the maximum deceleration, and thelike. The longitudinal vehicle constraint data may be specific to eachparticular vehicle and may be obtained from an onboard data storageelement 32 or from a networked database or other entity 48, 52, 54. Insome implementations, the longitudinal vehicle constraint data may becalculated or otherwise determined dynamically or substantially inreal-time based on the current mass of the vehicle, the current amountof fuel onboard the vehicle, historical or recent performance of thevehicle, and/or potentially other factors. In one or moreimplementations, the longitudinal vehicle constraint data is calculatedor determined in relation to the lateral path, the lateral vehicleconstraint data, and/or determinations made by the lateral solvermodule. For example, the maximum longitudinal speed may be constrainedat a particular location by the path curvature and the maximum lateralacceleration by calculating the maximum longitudinal speed as a functionof the path curvature and the maximum lateral acceleration (which itselfcould be constrained by rider preferences or vehicle dynamics). In thisregard, at locations where the degree of path curvature is relativelyhigh (e.g., sharp turns), the maximum longitudinal speed may be limitedaccordingly to maintain comfortable or achievable lateral accelerationalong the curve.

Using the various inputs to the longitudinal solver module, thelongitudinal solver module calculates or otherwise determines alongitudinal plan (e.g., planned speed, acceleration and jerk values inthe future as a function of time) for traveling along the route withinsome prediction horizon (e.g., 12 seconds) by optimizing somelongitudinal cost variable or combination thereof (e.g., minimizingtravel time, minimizing fuel consumption, minimizing jerk, or the like)by varying the speed or velocity of the vehicle from the current pose ina manner that ensures the vehicle complies with longitudinal ridepreference information to the extent possible while also complying withlane boundaries or other route constraints and avoiding collisions withobjects or obstacles. In this regard, in many conditions, the resultinglongitudinal plan generated by the longitudinal solver module does notviolate the maximum vehicle speed, the maximum vehicle acceleration, themaximum deceleration, and the maximum longitudinal jerk settingsassociated with the user, while also adhering to the following distancesor buffers associated with the user. That said, in some scenarios,violating one or more longitudinal ride preference settings may benecessary to avoid collisions, comply with traffic signals, or the like,in which case, the longitudinal solver module may attempt to maintaincompliance of as many of the user-specific longitudinal ride preferencesettings as possible. Thus, the resulting longitudinal plan generallycomplies with the user's longitudinal ride preference information butdoes not necessarily do so strictly.

In a similar manner, the lateral solver module receives or otherwiseobtains the current vehicle pose and the relevant route information andobstacle data for determining a lateral travel plan solution within theprediction horizon. The lateral solver module also receives or otherwiseobtains lateral vehicle constraint data which characterizes or otherwisedefines the kinematic or physical capabilities of the vehicle forlateral movement, such as, for example, the maximum steering angle orrange of steering angles, the minimum turning radius, the maximum rateof change for the steering angle, and the like. The lateral vehicleconstraint data may also be specific to each particular vehicle and maybe obtained from an onboard data storage element 32 or from a networkeddatabase or other entity 48, 52, 54. The lateral solver module may alsoreceive or otherwise obtain user-specific lateral ride preferenceinformation which includes, for example, user-specific values orsettings for the steering rate (e.g., a maximum rate of change for thesteering angle, a maximum acceleration of the steering angle, and/or thelike), the lateral jerk, and the like. The lateral ride preferenceinformation may also include user-specific distances or buffers, suchas, for example, a minimum and/or maximum distance from lane boundaries,a minimum lateral buffer or lateral separation distance between objectsor obstacles, and the like, and potentially other user-specific lanepreferences (e.g., a preferred lane of travel).

Using the various inputs to the lateral solver module, the lateralsolver module calculates or otherwise determines a lateral plan fortraveling along the route at future locations within some predictionhorizon (e.g., 50 meters) by optimizing some lateral cost variable orcombination thereof (e.g., minimizing deviation from the center of theroadway, minimizing the curvature of the path, minimizing lateral jerk,or the like) by varying the steering angle or vehicle wheel angle in amanner that ensures the vehicle complies with the lateral ridepreference information to the extent possible while also complying withlane boundaries or other route constraints and avoiding collisions withobjects or obstacles.

During normal operation, the lateral solver module may utilize thelongitudinal travel plan from the longitudinal solver module along withthe route information and obstacle data to determine how to steer thevehicle from the current pose within the prediction horizon whileattempting to comply with the lateral ride preference information. Inthis regard, the resulting longitudinal and lateral travel plans thatare ultimately output by the motion planning module comply with as manyof the user's ride preferences as possible while optimizing the costvariable and avoiding collisions by varying one or more of the vehicle'svelocity, acceleration/deceleration (longitudinally and/or laterally),jerk (longitudinally and/or laterally), steering angle, and steeringangle rate of change. The longitudinal travel plan output by the motionplanning module includes a sequence of planned velocity and accelerationcommands with respect to time for operating the vehicle within thelongitudinal prediction horizon (e.g., a velocity plan for the next 12seconds), and similarly, the lateral travel plan output by the motionplanning module includes a sequence of planned steering angles andsteering rates with respect to distance or position for steering thevehicle within the lateral prediction horizon while operating inaccordance with the longitudinal travel plan (e.g., a steering plan forthe next 50 meters). The longitudinal and lateral plan outputs areprovided to the vehicle control system 80, which may utilize vehiclelocalization information and employs its own control schemes to generatecontrol outputs that regulate the vehicle localization information tothe longitudinal and lateral plans by varying velocity and steeringcommands provided to the actuators 30, thereby varying the speed andsteering of the vehicle 10 to emulate or otherwise effectuate thelongitudinal and lateral plans.

In exemplary implementations, the guidance system 78 supports ahands-free autonomous operating mode that controls steering,acceleration and braking while it is enabled and operating to providelane centering while attempting to maintain a driver-selected speedand/or following distance (or gap time) relative to other vehicles usingthe current sensor data (or obstacle data) provided by the sensor fusionsystem 74 and the current vehicle pose provided by the positioningsystem 76. In the autonomous operating mode, the guidance system 78includes or otherwise implements a lane change coordinator that analyzesroute information (if available) in addition to data or otherinformation from the sensor fusion system 74, the positioning system 76and potentially other modules or systems to determine whether or not toinitiate and execute a lane change from a current lane of travel to anadjacent lane of travel, for example, based on presence of slower movingtraffic within the current lane of travel ahead of the vehicle (e.g., toovertake or pass another vehicle), whether or not the current lane isending or merging into an adjacent lane, whether a lane change isrequired to maintain travel along the desired route, and/or the like. Inthis regard, the lane change coordinator may automatically determinewhen to initiate a lane change and automatically configure the lateralsolver module and/or the motion planning module to generate acorresponding lateral plan to change lanes in the desired manner andprovide the lateral plan to the vehicle control system 80, whichautomatically generates corresponding control signals for autonomouslycontrolling the vehicle actuators 30 to maneuver the vehicle 10 andexecute the lane change.

Referring now to FIG. 3 , with continued reference to FIGS. 1-2 , inexemplary implementations, a vehicle control system 300 includes adriver monitoring system 302 that analyzes image data output by animaging device 304 to classify or otherwise determine a visual attentionstate associated with a driver of a vehicle and analyzes the driver'svisual attention state to identify or otherwise determine whether thedriver has a lane preference for an alternative lane to the current laneof travel. When the driver monitoring system 302 determines a driverlane preference exists, an adjacent lane in the direction of thedriver's visual attention is identified or otherwise designated as apreferred lane and a corresponding indication of the preferred lane isprovided to a lane change coordination system 306 at a guidance system308 (e.g., guidance system 78) to influence lateral maneuvering thevehicle from the current lane of travel.

In exemplary implementations, the imaging device 304 is realized as avideo camera that is located in the interior cabin or passengercompartment of a vehicle and positioned or otherwise oriented to facethe driver's seat to capture video or imagery of the driver duringoperation of the vehicle. For example, the imaging device 304 may beintegrated or otherwise incorporated into a steering wheel such that thefield of view or line of sight of the imaging device 304 is aligned withthe central axis of the steering wheel to capture images of the driver'sface or head when the driver is seated in the driver's seat and lookingforward out the front windshield of the vehicle. That said, it should beappreciated the subject matter described herein is not limited to anyparticular type of imaging device 304 or any particular arrangement,configuration or packaging of the imaging device 304.

In exemplary implementations, the driver monitoring system 302 isimplemented or otherwise realized using at least one processor and acomputer-readable storage device or media capable of storing data orexecutable instructions that cause the at least one processor toexecute, generate or otherwise provide a visual attention classificationmodule 310 and a visual lane prioritization module 312. The visualattention classification module 310 is configured to receive the videoor other image data output by the imaging device 304 and analyzes theimage data to identify or otherwise determine the direction in which thedriver's head or eyes are looking. It should be appreciated that anynumber of different image and video processing techniques may beutilized to detect or otherwise identify the orientation of the driver'sline of sight (or the focal point thereof) which are not germane to thisdisclosure, and the subject matter described herein is not limited toany particular manner or technique for estimating or determining theorientation of a driver's line of sight using captured image data.

In one or more exemplary implementations, the visual attentionclassification module 310 analyzes the direction or orientation of thedriver's line of sight with respect to the imaging device 304 toclassify or otherwise assign the driver's visual attention into one of aplurality of defined visual attention states. For example, when thedirection or orientation of the driver's line of sight indicates thatthe driver's visual attention is directed towards or otherwiseencompassed by a region on the driver's side of the vehicle thatincludes the driver's side mirror and the driver's side window, thevisual attention classification module 310 may determine that thedriver's visual attention direction corresponds to the driver's side ofthe vehicle (or left side of the vehicle in the United States).Conversely, when the direction or orientation of the driver's line ofsight indicates that the driver's visual attention is directed towardsor otherwise encompassed by a region on the opposing passenger side ofthe vehicle that includes the passenger side mirror and the passengerside window, the visual attention classification module 310 maydetermine that the driver's visual attention direction corresponds tothe passenger side of the vehicle (or right side of the vehicle in theUnited States). Additionally, other regions for the driver's line ofsight or focal point may be classified into different visual attentionstates, for example, when the direction or orientation of the driver'sline of sight indicates that the driver's visual attention is directedtowards or otherwise encompassed by a region that includes the rear viewmirror, the visual attention classification module 310 may determinethat the driver's visual attention direction corresponds to the rear ofthe vehicle, while other forward-looking regions (e.g., the dashboard,the center console, or the like) may be assigned different visualattention classifications.

The visual lane prioritization module 312 is coupled to the visualattention classification module 310 to receive indicia of the driver'svisual attention state and dynamically determine the driver's lanepreference and dynamically adjust priorities associated with thedifferent potential lanes of travel to reflect the driver's current lanepreference substantially in real-time. For example, the visual laneprioritization module 312 may monitor, track or otherwise determine thefrequency or number of times that a particular visual attention stateoccurred over a preceding window of time and/or a duration of time forwhich a particular visual attention state occurred over a precedingwindow of time. In this regard, when the driver's visual attention statecorresponding to the driver's visual attention direction to a particularside of the vehicle occurs greater than a threshold number of timesand/or for greater than a threshold duration of time over a precedingmonitoring window, the visual lane prioritization module 312 mayidentify the adjacent lane on that side of the vehicle corresponding tothe driver's visual attention direction as the driver's preferred laneof travel and automatically increase a priority assigned to the adjacentlane in that direction by virtue of the driver's visual attention beingdirected towards that lane. At the same time, the visual laneprioritization module 312 may automatically decrease the priorityassigned to the opposing adjacent lane on the other side of the vehicleopposite the driver's visual attention direction to reflect the driver'svisual attention being directed away from that lane.

Still referring to FIG. 3 , the visual lane prioritization module 312outputs or otherwise provides indicia of the current visual attentionstate and corresponding lane prioritizations or preferences to the lanechange coordination system 306 at the guidance system 308. The lanechange coordination system 306 utilizes the current visual attentionstate for the driver and the lane prioritizations influenced by thedriver's visual attention state over a preceding monitoring window todetermine whether or not to initiate a lane change or maintain thevehicle in the current lane of travel. In this regard, the driver'svisual attention state and lane prioritizations may be utilized toaugment automated lane change determinations and increase the confidencethat the automated lane change is desired or not desired based onwhether or not the driver's visual attention state and/or lanepreferences are aligned with the automated lane change determinationbased on other variables. For example, as described above, the lanechange coordination system 306 of the guidance system 308 may receivedata or other information indicative of neighboring traffic or otherobstacles from a sensor system 314 associated with the vehicle (e.g.,sensor fusion system 74) to automatically determine whether or not thevehicle should change lanes to pass or otherwise overtake a slowermoving vehicle in front of the host vehicle to maintain a desired setspeed (or cruise speed) that may be defined or otherwise desired by thedriver. Additionally, the lane change coordination system 306 mayreceive data or information indicative of the current vehicle pose froma positioning system 316 (e.g., positioning system 76) which may beutilized in conjunction with route information 318 (if available) todetermine whether or not the vehicle should change lanes to maintaintravel along a desired route.

In one or more exemplary implementations, when the lane changecoordination system 306 utilizes the current visual attention state forthe driver to further increase the priority associated with executing anautomated lane change when the driver's visual attention directioncorresponds to the same side of the vehicle as the automated lanechange. For example, based on sensor data from the sensor system 314indicative of slower moving vehicles in the path ahead of the hostvehicle that are within a threshold distance of the host vehicle, thelane change coordination system 306 may automatically determine toinitiate a lane change from the current lane of travel to an adjacentlane of travel on the driver's side of the host vehicle. When thedriver's visual attention direction corresponds to the driver's side ofthe host vehicle and/or the adjacent lane of travel on the driver's sideof the host vehicle is assigned a higher priority by the visual laneprioritization module 312, the lane change coordination system 306determines that the driver's visual attention direction and theautomated lane change direction are aligned, and accordingly, provides acommand, signal, or other instruction to the motion planning module(e.g., by setting a hurry up flag bit to a particular value) to expediteimplementation of the automated lane change from the current lane to theadjacent lane of travel on the driver's side. In response, the motionplanning module may automatically determine a motion plan configured tocause the vehicle to maneuver laterally from the current lane of travelto the adjacent lane of travel on the driver's side and provide themotion plan (or corresponding command signals) to a vehicle controlsystem 320 (e.g., vehicle control system 80) which autonomously operatesone or more actuators onboard the vehicle to initiate maneuvering thevehicle from the current lane to the adjacent lane of travel on thedriver's side. In this regard, when the lane change coordination system306 indicates a desire to expedite a lane change based on the driver'svisual attention confirming the automated lane change, in someimplementations, the guidance system 308 and/or the vehicle controlsystem 320 may automatically initiate autonomous operation to changelanes without waiting for other confirmation from the driver orproviding user notifications of a pending lane change because thedriver's visual attention is consistent or otherwise aligned with theautomated lane change.

On the other hand, in other scenarios, the lane change coordinationsystem 306 may utilize the current visual attention state for the driverto alter, delay, cancel, or otherwise decrease the priority associatedwith executing an automated lane change when the driver's visualattention direction does not match or otherwise correspond to the sameside of the vehicle as the automated lane change. For example, when thelane change coordination system 306 automatically determines to initiatean automated lane change from the current lane of travel to an adjacentlane of travel on the driver's side of the host vehicle but the driver'svisual attention direction corresponds to the opposing passenger side ofthe vehicle and/or the adjacent lane of travel on the passenger side ofthe host vehicle is assigned a higher priority by the visual laneprioritization module 312, the lane change coordination system 306determines that the driver's visual attention direction and theautomated lane change direction are mismatched or misaligned. In someimplementations, the lane change coordination system 306 utilizes thedriver's visual attention direction to override or otherwise augment theautomated lane change to the preferred or higher priority lane derivedfrom the driver's visual attention state, for example, by modifying theautomated lane change to the adjacent lane of travel on the passengerside of the host vehicle instead of the driver side lane. In otherimplementations, the lane change coordination system 306 may decreasethe priority associated with the automated lane change or otherwisedelay execution of the automated lane change, for example, by requiringdriver confirmation of the pending automated lane change to the driver'sside of the host vehicle when the driver's attention state is notdirected to or aligned with the driver's side of the host vehicle.

In some implementations, when a pending automated lane change does notcurrently exist, the lane change coordination system 306 utilizes thedriver's visual attention state and corresponding lane prioritizationsor preferences to influence automated lane changes that may besubsequently determined based on neighboring traffic, route information,and/or the like. For example, when the driver's visual attention stateindicates that the driver's visual attention is preferentially directedtowards a passenger side of the vehicle, the priority associated withthe adjacent lane on the passenger side of the vehicle may be increasedsuch that in response to a subsequent determination to initiate anautomated lane change to pass or overtake a slower moving vehicle aheadof the host vehicle, the lane change coordination system 306 maydetermine to initiate an automated lane change from the current lane oftravel into the adjacent lane on the passenger side of the vehiclerather than defaulting to an automated lane change to the adjacent laneon the driver's side of the vehicle. In this regard, the driver's visualattention state and corresponding lane preferences may be utilized todynamically increase or decrease the relative priority of differentpotential lanes of travel and/or dynamically increase or decreasedifferent timers or thresholds for initiating an automated lane changefrom the current lane of travel.

For example, if the direction of the driver's visual attention is to aparticular side of the vehicle for more than a threshold duration oftime and/or the driver's visual attention is directed to that particularside of the vehicle more than a threshold number of times during apreceding monitoring window, the lane change coordination system 306 mayprogressively increase the priority associated with the adjacent lane onthat side of the vehicle and/or progressively decrease the timers orthresholds for initiating a lane change to that side of the vehicle toincrease the likelihood of an automated lane change from the currentlane of travel to the adjacent lane on that side of the vehicle beinginitiated. In this regard, some implementations of the lane changecoordination system 306 utilize the driver's visual attention state andcorresponding visual lane preferences or prioritizations as inputvariables that fuse or otherwise combine the output of the drivermonitoring system 302 with outputs from other onboard systems orcomponents that are analyzing different aspects of the vehicle operationand surrounding environment and provide corresponding lane preferencesor prioritizations to result at a final determination of whether toinitiate an automated lane change in a particular direction as aweighted combination of the different inputs.

It should be noted that FIG. 3 depicts a simplified representation ofthe vehicle control system 300 for purposes of explanation and is notintended to be limiting. In this regard, although FIG. 3 depicts thedriver monitoring system 302 as a separate or standalone system that isdistinct from the guidance system 308, in other implementations, thedriver monitoring system 302 (or portions thereof) may be incorporated,integrated or otherwise implemented in connection with the guidancesystem 308 or another system onboard a vehicle. For example, the visuallane prioritization module 312 may be implemented by or at the guidancesystem 308 and/or the visual attention classification module 310 may beimplemented by or at the sensor system 314 (e.g., where the image dataoutput by the imaging device 304 is an input to the sensor system 314).Moreover, the lane change coordination system 306 may include any numberof different subcomponents or subsystems that are configurable todetermine whether an automated lane change may be desirable and assignlane priorities. In such implementations, the lane change coordinationsystem 306 arbitrates the outputs from the different subcomponents orsubsystems in concert with the driver's visual attention state outputfrom the driver monitoring system 302 and/or the visual laneprioritization module 312 to determine whether to initiate an automatedlane change in a manner that accounts for the driver's visual lanepreferences as well as any number of other different factors orvariables during operation of the vehicle (e.g., route information, laneclosures or lane ending, road construction, traffic, detected objects orobstacles, driver preferences or other vehicle settings, and/or thelike).

FIG. 4 depicts an exemplary implementation of a visual laneprioritization process 400 suitable for implementation by one or morecontrol modules onboard a vehicle (e.g., by the driver monitoring system302 in conjunction with the ADS 70 supported by the controller 34 in thevehicle 10) to autonomously operate one or more actuators onboard thevehicle to change lanes in a manner that is influenced by the driver'slane preference derived from analysis of the driver's visual attentionstate. For illustrative purposes, the following description may refer toelements mentioned above in connection with FIGS. 1-3 . While portionsof the visual lane prioritization process 400 may be performed bydifferent elements of a vehicle system, for purposes of explanation, thesubject matter may be primarily described herein in the context of thevisual lane prioritization process 400 being primarily performed by thedriver monitoring system 302 and the guidance system 78, 308 of the ADS70 implemented by the controller 34 associated with the vehicle 10.

In exemplary implementations, the visual lane prioritization process 400begins by identifying or otherwise determining the driver's visualattention state at 402. As described above in the context of FIG. 3 , inexemplary implementations, the visual attention classification module310 of a driver monitoring system 302 continually analyzes the imagedata output by the imaging device 304 to classify the orientation of thedriver's line of sight or focal point relative to the position of theimaging device 304 into a particular visual attention statecorresponding to the direction of the driver's visual attention. Forexample, when the visual attention classification module 310 determinesthe driver's visual attention is directed towards the driver's sidemirror or otherwise further towards the driver's side of the vehicle(e.g., out a driver's side window), the visual attention classificationmodule 310 may classify the driver's visual attention as the adjacentlane on the driver's side of the vehicle. On the other hand, when thevisual attention classification module 310 determines driver's visualattention is directed towards the passenger side mirror or otherwisefurther towards the passenger side of the vehicle (e.g., out a passengerside window), the visual attention classification module 310 mayclassify the driver's visual attention as the adjacent lane on thepassenger side of the vehicle. Similarly, when the visual attentionclassification module 310 determines driver's visual attention isdirected towards the rear-view mirror, the center console, thedashboard, or other regions within the vehicle, the visual attentionclassification module 310 may classify the driver's visual attentioninto a corresponding visual attention state associated with that region.In this regard, in some implementations, a particular region may beassigned to a visual attention state for negating, cancelling orotherwise overriding an automated lane change, as described in greaterdetail below.

After determining the driver's visual attention state, visual laneprioritization process 400 identifies or otherwise determines driverlane preference metrics based on the driver's visual attention state at404. In exemplary implementations, the visual lane prioritizationprocess 400 identifies or otherwise determines driver lane preferencemetrics based on the driver's visual attention state over a precedingmonitoring window period of time. For example, the visual attentionclassification module 310 may periodically sample or otherwise analyzethe image data from the imaging device 304 and output indicia of theclassified visual attention state associated with a respective samplingperiod. The visual lane prioritization module 312 receives theindication of the current visual attention state and calculates orotherwise determines corresponding metrics indicative of the driver'srelative preference for the different potential lanes based on thevisual attention state indicia over the preceding monitoring window.

In exemplary implementations, for potential visual attention statecorresponding to a particular lane, the visual lane prioritizationmodule 312 may implement a counter or similar feature to count thenumber of times that the driver's visual attention state corresponded tothat particular lane over the preceding monitoring window. For example,the visual lane prioritization module 312 may count the number of timesthat the driver's visual attention state was classified as beingdirected to the adjacent lane on the driver's side of the vehicle overthe preceding minute, thereby tracking or otherwise monitoring thefrequency at which the driver looked towards the driver side lane overthe preceding minute of time. Similarly, the visual lane prioritizationmodule 312 may count the number of times that the driver's visualattention state was classified as being directed to the adjacent lane onthe passenger side of the vehicle over the preceding minute to track thefrequency at which the driver looked towards the passenger side laneover the preceding minute of time. Likewise, in implementations wheredifferent regions for the driver's visual attention are classified intoa particular visual attention state for the current lane of travel(e.g., when the driver's visual attention is directed towards the frontwindshield), the visual lane prioritization module 312 may count thenumber of times that the driver's visual attention state was classifiedas being directed to the current lane.

In one or more exemplary implementations, the visual lane prioritizationmodule 312 also implements a timer or similar feature to count theduration of time that the driver's visual attention state was maintainedunchanged over successive sampling periods while being directed to aparticular lane over the preceding monitoring window. For example, whenthe visual attention classification module 310 classifies the driver'svisual attention state as being directed to the adjacent lane on thedriver's side of the vehicle over successive samples, the visual laneprioritization module 312 may utilize the relative difference betweentimestamps of the successive samples to determine a correspondingduration that the driver's visual attention was focused on the driverside lane and increment the cumulative duration that the driver's visualattention was focused on the driver side lane over the precedingmonitoring window. In this regard, by tracking or monitoring theduration of time the driver's attention was directed to a particularlane while also tracking or monitoring the frequency or number of timesthe driver's attention was directed to that particular lane, theresulting metrics for the different potential lanes are indicative ofthe driver's relative preference for a particular lane of the availablepotential lanes.

Still referring to FIG. 4 , after determining the driver's currentvisual attention state and corresponding driver lane preference metrics,the visual lane prioritization process 400 identifies or otherwisedetermines whether an automated lane change is pending for execution at406, and if so, determines whether the pending automated lane change isin the same direction as the driver's visual attention at 408. In thisregard, the lane change coordination system 306 receives indication ofthe driver's current visual attention state from the driver monitoringsystem 302 and determines whether the current visual attention state forthe driver was classified to an adjacent lane that matches or otherwisecorresponds to a pending automated lane change that was determined basedon traffic, obstacles, route information and/or the like. When thevisual lane prioritization process 400 confirms that the driver'scurrent visual attention state is in the same direction as or otherwisematches the pending automated lane change, the visual laneprioritization process 400 automatically increases the priorityassociated with that particular lane at 410 to expedite initiation ofthe automated lane change in that direction or otherwise increase thelikelihood of the automated lane change in that direction beingexecuted.

For example, when an automated lane change to the adjacent lane on thedriver's side was previously determined by the lane change coordinationsystem 306 in order to overtake slower moving traffic in the path of thevehicle and is pending execution by the guidance system 78, 308 and/orvehicle control system 80, 320 and the driver's current visual attentionstate is classified as being directed to the driver side lane, the lanechange coordination system 306 may automatically increase a priorityvalue associated with the pending lane change and/or the driver sidelane to increase the likelihood of the motion planning module of theguidance system 78, 308 determining a corresponding motion plan tochange lanes from the current lane of travel into the driver side lane.Additionally, or alternatively, in some implementations, the lane changecoordination system 306 may set a flag bit or provide other indicationin connection with the automated lane change request provided to theguidance system 78, 308 to indicate that the guidance system 78, 308should attempt to expedite the pending lane change to the driver sidelane. Thus, by virtue of the driver's visual attention being consistentwith or otherwise confirming the automated lane change and providingincreased confidence in the desirability of the automated lane change,the guidance system 78, 308 and/or vehicle control system 80, 320 mayrespond to the driver's visual attention state by expediting autonomousoperation of the vehicle to change lanes in the direction of thedriver's visual attention to behave more consistent with the driver'sexpectations indicated by the driver's visual attention and therebyimprove user experience.

On the other hand, when the visual lane prioritization process 400determines that the driver's current visual attention state is in adifferent or opposite direction as the pending automated lane change,the visual lane prioritization process 400 automatically decreases thepriority associated with that particular lane at 412 to delay initiationof the automated lane change in that direction or otherwise decrease thelikelihood of the automated lane change in that direction beingexecuted. For example, when an automated lane change to the adjacentlane on the driver's side was previously determined by the lane changecoordination system 306 in order to overtake slower moving traffic inthe path of the vehicle but the driver's current visual attention stateis classified as being directed to the passenger side lane on theopposite side of the vehicle, the lane change coordination system 306may automatically decrease a priority value associated with the pendinglane change and/or the driver side lane to decrease the likelihood ofthe motion planning module of the guidance system 78, 308 determining acorresponding motion plan to change lanes from the current lane oftravel into the driver side lane. Additionally, or alternatively, insome implementations, the lane change coordination system 306 may set aflag bit or provide other indication in connection with the automatedlane change request provided to the guidance system 78, 308 to indicatethat the guidance system 78, 308 should pause or delay the pending lanechange to the driver side lane. In yet other implementations, the lanechange coordination system 306 may cancel a pending automated lanechange request when there is a mismatch between the driver's visualattention state or visual attention direction and the direction of thepending automated lane change. Thus, when the driver's visual attentionis inconsistent with an automated lane change and decreasing confidencein the desirability of the automated lane change, the guidance system78, 308 and/or vehicle control system 80, 320 may respond to thedriver's visual attention state by maintaining autonomous operation ofthe vehicle in the current lane of travel to avoid behavinginconsistently with the driver's expectations indicated by the driver'svisual attention, thereby improving user experience.

Still referring to FIG. 4 , when there is no automated lane changepending at 406, the visual lane prioritization process 400 analyzes thelane preference metrics determined based on the driver's visualattention state to detect or otherwise identify when the respectivevalue for one or more of the driver's lane preference metrics is greaterthan a threshold value indicative of a driver lane preference foranother lane at 414, and when the driver's lane preference metricsindicate the driver has a preference for another lane, the visual laneprioritization process 400 automatically increases the priorityassociated with the adjacent lane in the visual attention direction andautomatically decreases the priority associated with the adjacent lanein the opposing direction at 416 to expedite initiation of the automatedlane change in the driver's preferred direction or otherwise increasethe likelihood of the automated lane change in driver's preferreddirection. In this regard, the lane preference threshold(s) may bechosen to effectively filter or otherwise ignore transient fluctuationsin the driver's visual attention state that may be merely coincidentalor inadvertent and unlikely to reflect the driver's preferences orintent. Thus, when the driver's lane preference metrics do not indicateany particular lane preference, the visual lane prioritization process400 exits and repeats after the next sampling of the image data outputby the imaging device 304 to dynamically respond substantially inreal-time to the most recently observed visual attention state for thedriver.

It should be noted that although the subject matter may be describedherein in the context of a mutually inclusive implementation requiringboth the frequency and duration of the driver's visual attention beingdirected in a particular direction to ascertain a lane preference, otherimplementations may be mutually independent requiring only one of thefrequency or the duration of the driver's visual attention beingdirected in a particular direction by more than the respective thresholdin order to assign a lane preference. Moreover, the subject matter isnot limited to any particular type, number or combination of visual lanepreference metrics and corresponding thresholds that may be utilized toprioritize or otherwise assign relative preferences to different lanesbased on the driver's visual attention state.

Still referring to FIG. 4 , in exemplary implementations, at 414, thevisual lane prioritization module 312 verifies or otherwise confirmsthat the frequency or number of times that the driver's visual attentionstate was directed towards an adjacent lane is greater than a thresholdnumber of times during the preceding monitoring window while alsoverifying or otherwise confirming that the cumulative duration of timethat the driver's visual attention state was directed towards thatadjacent lane is greater than a threshold duration of time during thepreceding monitoring window. In this manner, the visual laneprioritization module 312 infers, based on the driver's visual attentionbeing preferentially focused in a particular direction towards aparticular adjacent lane, that the driver is more likely to prefertravel in that adjacent lane and/or that the driver has greatersituational awareness with respect to that adjacent lane to improvesafety and user experience when an automated lane change in thatdirection is initiated.

For example, when the driver has looked towards the adjacent lane on thepassenger side more than a threshold number of times during thepreceding minute for greater than a threshold duration, the visual laneprioritization module 312 may determine that the driver prefers tochange lanes to the passenger side and provide a correspondingindication to the lane change coordination system 306 to increase thepriority associated with the passenger side (and decrease the priorityassociated with the driver side). As a result, when a request for anautomated lane change is subsequently generated (e.g., by an overtakeassessor determining a lane change should be performed to pass slowermoving in-path traffic), the lane change coordination system 306 mayutilize the increased priority associated with the passenger side tocause the automated lane change to be to the passenger side rather thanthe driver side of the vehicle and/or expedite the automated lane changeto the passenger side. In this manner, by accounting for the driver'spreviously observed visual attention state when prioritizing potentiallanes of travel relative to one another, the visual lane prioritizationprocess 400 reduces the likelihood of a mismatch between a subsequentautomated lane change and the driver's visual attention state at 408.

Still referring to FIG. 4 , in exemplary implementations, the visuallane prioritization process 400 repeats in response to each updatedsampling of image data from the imaging device 304 to continuallyanalyze the driver's visual attention state to dynamically update andadapt the relative priorities or preferences associated with thedifferent potential lanes of travel to reflect the driver's mostrecently observed visual attention over the preceding monitoring window.In this manner, the direction of automated lane changes may moreintuitively track the driver's expectations and accord with the driver'ssituational awareness with respect to the destination lane for anautomated lane change by prioritizing the direction most aligned withthe driver's visual attention. Moreover, by deprioritizing or delayingautomated lane changes away from the driver's visual attention, thevisual lane prioritization process 400 reduces the likelihood of adriver manually interacting to override or cancel an automated lanechange.

Some implementations of the visual lane prioritization process 400 mayallow the driver to effectively cancel or negate an automated lanechange visually by maintaining his or her gaze in another direction thatdelays the automated lane change and/or deprioritizes the destinationlane for that automated lane change until the automated lane change isno longer desired by the guidance system 78, 308 and/or the lane changecoordination system 306. In this regard, in some implementations, anautomated lane change cancellation region may be defined (e.g., aparticular region of the dashboard) such that when the driver's line ofsight or focal point is within the automated lane change cancellationregion and the driver's visual attention state is classified as theautomated lane change cancellation state, the visual lane prioritizationmodule 312 and/or the lane change coordination system 306 mayautomatically override and cancel an automated lane change, therebyallowing a driver to effectively provide a visual input to cancel anautomated lane change without requiring another manual or physical input(e.g., actuating a turn signal stalk in an opposing direction).

Additionally, in some implementations, the visual lane prioritizationprocess 400 may be configured to support a particular sequence of drivervisual attention states that corresponds to a predefined pattern forinitiating or expediting an automated lane change. In this regard, thedriver monitoring system 302 may be configured to detect or otherwiseidentify when a particular sequence of driver visual attention statescorresponding to a predefined pattern for an automated lane change in aparticular direction and, in response, provide corresponding indicia tothe lane change coordination system 306 to increase priority orpreference for that particular direction to initiate or expedite thedesired lane change. For example, a sequence of driver visual attentionstates of passenger side mirror followed by center console followedpassenger side mirror may be designated or otherwise assigned to a lanechange on demand to the passenger side, where in response to detectingthat sequence of driver visual attention states, the driver monitoringsystem 302 provides corresponding indicia to the lane changecoordination system 306 that causes the guidance system 78, 308 toautomatically initiate the desired lane change from the current lane oftravel to the adjacent lane on the passenger side of the vehicle. Itshould be appreciated that there are numerous different potentialsequences or patterns that may be assigned to particular actions oroperations by the vehicle, and the subject matter described herein isnot intended to be limited to any particular pattern or sequence.

FIG. 5 depicts an exemplary scenario illustrating the visual laneprioritization process 400 of FIG. 4 in accordance with one or moreimplementations. FIG. 5 depicts an initial state 500 of a vehicle 502(e.g., vehicle 10) traveling behind another vehicle 504 in the centerlane 520 of a road while being operated in an autonomous cruise controlmode or other Level Two autonomous operating mode that attempts tomaintain the vehicle 502 substantially centered within the current lane520 of travel along the lane centerline at a user-defined velocity,subject to other user-defined or user-configurable constraints (e.g.,separation distances from other vehicles and the like). As describedabove in the context of FIG. 3 , the vehicle 502 includes an imagingdevice 506 (e.g., imaging device 304) inside the passenger compartmentthat is oriented towards a position 508 of a driver of the vehicle 502to capture video or other imagery of the driver seated at that position508 that is capable of being analyzed (e.g., by the visual attentionclassification module 310 at 402) to classify the driver's visualattention state, for example, by capturing video or other imagery of thedriver's face or eyes that can be utilized to identify the relativeorientation or direction of the driver's line of sight 510. In thisregard, FIG. 5 depicts a scenario where the driver's visual attentionstate is classified as being directed towards the adjacent lane 540 tothe passenger side (or right side) of the vehicle 502 by virtue of thedriver's line of sight 510 being oriented towards the passenger sidemirror or otherwise out the passenger side window.

At the initial state 500, the sensor system 74, 314 onboard the vehicle10, 502 captures or otherwise obtains sensor data associated with theother vehicle 504 that is within the current lane 520 of travel and theguidance system 78, 308 (or an overtake assessor associated therewith)determines, based on the distance between the vehicles 502, 504 and thecurrent speed of the host vehicle 502 relative to the in-path vehicle504, that an automated lane change should be performed to allow the hostvehicle 502 to pass the other vehicle 504. Based on the driver's visualattention state being classified as being directed to the passenger sidelane 540, the visual lane prioritization module 312 and/or the lanechange coordination system 306 may increase the priority associated withthe passenger side lane 540 to expedite the guidance system 78, 308determining a corresponding motion plan (indicated by trajectory 512) toinitiate and autonomously execute an automated lane change from thecurrent lane 520 of travel towards the right to the adjacent passengerside lane 540. In this regard, by virtue of the visual laneprioritization process 400 of FIG. 4 accounting for the driver's visualattention being directed towards the passenger side lane 540 byincreasing the priority associated with the passenger side lane 540and/or decreasing the priority associated with the driver side lane 530,the automated lane change may be performed to the passenger side lane540 to align with the driver's visual attention direction (indicated byline of sight 510) where the driver is likely to have greatersituational awareness to better comport with the driver's expectationsrather than defaulting to an automated lane change to the driver sidelane 530 in order to overtake the in-path vehicle 504 without accountingfor the driver's visual attention.

FIG. 6 depicts an exemplary scenario illustrating the visual laneprioritization process 400 of FIG. 4 in accordance with one or moreimplementations. FIG. 6 depicts an initial state 600 of a vehicle 502(e.g., vehicle 10) traveling behind another vehicle 504 in the centerlane 520 of a road while being operated in an autonomous cruise controlmode or other Level Two autonomous operating mode that attempts tomaintain the vehicle 502 substantially centered within the current lane520 of travel along the lane centerline at a user-defined velocity,subject to other user-defined or user-configurable constraints (e.g.,separation distances from other vehicles and the like). In this regard,FIG. 6 depicts a scenario where the driver's visual attention state isclassified as being directed towards the adjacent lane 530 to the driverside of the vehicle 502 by virtue of the driver's line of sight 610being oriented towards the driver side mirror or otherwise out thedriver side window.

In the scenario of FIG. 6 , the guidance system 78, 308 (or an overtakeassessor associated therewith) may determine, based on the distancebetween the vehicles 502, 504 and the current speed of the host vehicle502 relative to the in-path vehicle 504, that an automated lane changedoes not need to be performed at the current point in time. However,based on the driver's visual attention being directed towards the driverside lane 530 with sufficient frequency and duration of time (e.g., at414), the visual lane prioritization module 312 and/or the lane changecoordination system 306 may increase the priority associated with thedriver side lane 530 to expedite the guidance system 78, 308 determininga corresponding motion plan (indicated by trajectory 612) to initiateand autonomously execute an automated lane change from the current lane520 of travel towards the left to the adjacent driver side lane 530. Inthis regard, by virtue of the visual lane prioritization process 400accounting for the driver's visual attention and increasing the priorityassociated with the driver side lane 530, rather than waiting for thehost vehicle 502 to continue reducing the buffer distance between thein-path vehicle 504 until the overtake assessor or another component ofthe guidance system 78, 308 requests an automated lane change, anautomated lane change may be expedited and performed preemptively (e.g.,once the priority associated with the driver side lane 530 exceeds athreshold value or exceeds a priority assigned to the current lane 520)to align with the driver's visual attention indicating a likely desireor expectation by the driver that the vehicle 502 will autonomouslychange lanes to overtake the vehicle 504. Thus, by allowing a driver toeffectively provide a visual input to initiate an automated lane change,the driver does not need to provide a manual or physical input (e.g.,actuating a turn signal stalk) to manually initiate a lane change ondemand.

Referring again to FIGS. 1-4 , in one or more implementations, thevehicle control system 300 and the visual lane prioritization process400 may be cooperatively configured to support self-learning to providepersonalized, driver-specific automated lane change behavior byadjusting thresholds for initiating automated lane changes in a mannerthat incorporates the driver's visual attention state as well as thedriver's other interactions with the system to initiate or cancelautomated lane changes. For example, when a driver cancels an automatedlane change, either by physical interaction with the system (e.g., byactuating the turn signal stalk) or visual cancelation or override, thelane change coordination system 306 and/or the visual laneprioritization module 312 may automatically increase the threshold(s)used at 414 to decrease the sensitivity of the visual laneprioritization process 400 and require more frequent and/or moreprolonged visual attention to a particular side of the vehicle beforeinitiating or expediting an automated lane change to that side.Conversely, when a driver manually initiates a lane change on demand viaphysical interaction with the system, the lane change coordinationsystem 306 and/or the visual lane prioritization module 312 mayautomatically decrease the threshold(s) used at 414 to increase thesensitivity of the visual lane prioritization process 400 and requireless frequent and/or less prolonged visual attention to a particularside of the vehicle before initiating or expediting an automated lanechange to that side. Thus, over time, the thresholds may adapt in auser-specific manner to achieve more intuitive automated lane changebehavior that comports with each individual driver's driving or ridepreferences while reducing the amount of physical or other manualinteraction, thereby improving the user experience.

While at least one exemplary aspect has been presented in the foregoingdetailed description, it should be appreciated that a vast number ofvariations exist. It should also be appreciated that the exemplaryaspect or exemplary aspects are only examples, and are not intended tolimit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the disclosure inany way. Rather, the foregoing detailed description will provide thoseskilled in the art with a convenient road map for implementing theexemplary aspect or exemplary aspects. It should be understood thatvarious changes can be made in the function and arrangement of elementswithout departing from the scope of the disclosure as set forth in theappended claims and the legal equivalents thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of controlling a vehicle in anautonomous operating mode, the method comprising: identifying, by acontroller associated with the vehicle, a visual attention stateassociated with a driver of the vehicle based at least in part on outputof an imaging device onboard the vehicle; determining, by the controllerbased at least in part on the visual attention state, a driver lanepreference corresponding to an adjacent lane in a visual attentiondirection relative to a current lane of travel for the vehicle, thevisual attention direction corresponding to the visual attention state;adjusting, by the controller, a priority associated with the adjacentlane corresponding to the driver lane preference, resulting in anadjusted priority associated with the adjacent lane; and autonomouslyoperating, by the controller, one or more actuators onboard the vehicleto initiate maneuvering the vehicle from the current lane in a mannerthat is influenced by the adjusted priority associated with the adjacentlane.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein: identifying the visualattention state comprises identifying visual attention of the driverdirected to a region associated with a side of the current lane oftravel in the visual attention direction; determining the driver lanepreference comprises identifying the adjacent lane on the side of thecurrent lane of travel in the visual attention direction as a preferredlane; adjusting the priority comprises increasing the priorityassociated with the adjacent lane, resulting in an increased priorityassociated with the adjacent lane; and autonomously operating the one ormore actuators comprises autonomously operating the one or moreactuators to initiate a lane change from the current lane to theadjacent lane in accordance with the increased priority.
 3. The methodof claim 2, wherein identifying the visual attention of the driverdirected to the region associated with the side of the current lane oftravel comprises identifying the visual attention of the driver isdirected to a mirror on the side of the vehicle in the visual attentiondirection.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein autonomously operating theone or more actuators to initiate the lane change from the current laneto the adjacent lane in accordance with the increased priority comprisesproviding an indication to a motion planning module to generate a motionplan to execute a pending lane change in the visual attention direction.5. The method of claim 1, wherein: adjusting the priority comprisesdecreasing the priority associated with the adjacent lane when thevisual attention direction corresponds to a first side of the currentlane opposite a second side of the current lane corresponding to theadjacent lane, resulting in a decreased priority associated with theadjacent lane; and autonomously operating the one or more actuatorscomprises autonomously operating the one or more actuators to delay alane change from the current lane to the adjacent lane in accordancewith the decreased priority.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein:adjusting the priority comprises decreasing the priority associated withthe adjacent lane when the visual attention direction corresponds to afirst side of the current lane opposite a second side of the currentlane corresponding to the adjacent lane, resulting in a decreasedpriority associated with the adjacent lane; and autonomously operatingthe one or more actuators comprises autonomously operating the one ormore actuators to initiate a lane change from the current lane to asecond adjacent lane on the first side of the current lane in accordancewith the decreased priority associated with the adjacent lane.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein autonomously operating the one or moreactuators comprises autonomously operating the one or more actuators tocancel or delay a pending lane change.
 8. The method of claim 1,wherein: determining the visual attention state comprises determining atleast one of a frequency and a duration of visual attention in thevisual attention direction over a preceding window of time; determiningthe driver lane preference comprises determining the adjacent lane is apreferred lane when the at least one of the at least one of thefrequency and the duration of visual attention in the visual attentiondirection over the preceding window of time is greater than a threshold;and adjusting the priority comprises increasing the priority associatedwith the adjacent lane in response to determining the adjacent lane isthe preferred lane, resulting in an increased priority associated withthe adjacent lane.
 9. A vehicle comprising: an imaging device; one ormore actuators onboard the vehicle; and a controller coupled to theimaging device and the one or more actuators that, by a processor,identifies a visual attention state associated with a driver of thevehicle based at least in part on output of the imaging device,determines a driver lane preference corresponding to an adjacent lane ina visual attention direction relative to a current lane of travel forthe vehicle corresponding to the visual attention state, adjusts apriority associated with the adjacent lane corresponding to the driverlane preference, resulting in an adjusted priority associated with theadjacent lane, and autonomously operates the one or more actuators toinitiate maneuvering the vehicle from the current lane in a manner thatis influenced by the adjusted priority associated with the adjacentlane.
 10. The vehicle of claim 9, wherein the imaging device comprises acamera oriented to capture imagery of the driver when the driver isoperating the vehicle.
 11. The vehicle of claim 9, wherein: the visualattention state comprises visual attention of the driver directed to aregion associated with a side of the current lane of travel in thevisual attention direction; and the driver lane preference comprises theadjacent lane on the side of the current lane of travel in the visualattention direction.
 12. The vehicle of claim 11, wherein the regioncomprises a mirror on the side of the vehicle in the visual attentiondirection.
 13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprisingexecutable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause theprocessor to: identify a visual attention state associated with a driverof a vehicle based at least in part on output of an imaging deviceonboard the vehicle; determine, based at least in part on the visualattention state, a driver lane preference corresponding to an adjacentlane in a visual attention direction relative to a current lane oftravel for the vehicle corresponding to the visual attention state;adjust a priority associated with the adjacent lane corresponding to thedriver lane preference, resulting in an adjusted priority associatedwith the adjacent lane; and autonomously operate one or more actuatorsonboard the vehicle to initiate maneuvering the vehicle from the currentlane in a manner that is influenced by the adjusted priority associatedwith the adjacent lane.
 14. The non-transitory computer-readable mediumof claim 13, wherein: identifying the visual attention state comprisesidentifying visual attention of the driver directed to a regionassociated with a side of the current lane of travel in the visualattention direction; determining the driver lane preference comprisesidentifying the adjacent lane on the side of the current lane of travelin the visual attention direction as a preferred lane; adjusting thepriority comprises increasing the priority associated with the adjacentlane, resulting in an increased priority associated with the adjacentlane; and autonomously operating the one or more actuators comprisesautonomously operating the one or more actuators to initiate a lanechange from the current lane to the adjacent lane in accordance with theincreased priority.
 15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 14, wherein the region comprises a mirror on the side of thevehicle in the visual attention direction.
 16. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein autonomously operating theone or more actuators to initiate a lane change from the current lane tothe adjacent lane in accordance with the adjusted priority comprisesproviding an indication to a motion planning module to generate a motionplan to execute a pending lane change in the visual attention direction.17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein:adjusting the priority comprises decreasing the priority associated withthe adjacent lane when the visual attention direction corresponds to afirst side of the current lane opposite a second side of the currentlane corresponding to the adjacent lane, resulting in a decreasedpriority associated with the adjacent lane; and autonomously operatingthe one or more actuators comprises autonomously operating the one ormore actuators to delay a lane change from the current lane to theadjacent lane in accordance with the decreased priority.
 18. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein: adjustingthe priority comprises decreasing the priority associated with theadjacent lane when the visual attention direction corresponds to a firstside of the current lane opposite a second side of the current lanecorresponding to the adjacent lane, resulting in a decreased priorityassociated with the adjacent lane; and autonomously operating the one ormore actuators comprises autonomously operating the one or moreactuators to initiate a lane change from the current lane to a secondadjacent lane on the first side of the current lane in accordance withthe decreased priority associated with the adjacent lane.
 19. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, whereinautonomously operating the one or more actuators comprises autonomouslyoperating the one or more actuators to cancel or delay a pending lanechange.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13,wherein: determining the visual attention state comprises determining atleast one of a frequency and a duration of visual attention in thevisual attention direction over a preceding window of time; determiningthe driver lane preference comprises determining the adjacent lane is apreferred lane when the at least one of the at least one of thefrequency and the duration of visual attention in the visual attentiondirection over the preceding window of time is greater than a threshold;and adjusting the priority comprises increasing the priority associatedwith the adjacent lane in response to determining the adjacent lane isthe preferred lane, resulting in an increased priority associated withthe adjacent lane.